Ovidio Guzmán, one of many sons of the infamous drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, pleaded not responsible to an array of drug-trafficking costs this afternoon in a courtroom in Chicago. He has joined his father in the united statespenitentiary system following his extradition from Mexico over the weekend.
Guzmán’s comparatively speedy and surprising extradition from Mexico passed off on Friday Sep. 15 throughout Mexico’s Independence Day celebrations. Ovidio was captured in a shootout between cartel henchmen and the nation’s authorities in January that introduced town of Culiacan, Sinaloa to a standstill.
The transfer to get the younger Guzmán out of Mexican detention and behind U.S jail bars was possible the results of worries by the united statesgovernment that he may escape in the same vein to his father, who escaped twice when he was in jail in Mexico.
Throughout his first listening to in Chicago right this moment, Ovidio informed Choose Sharon Johnson Coleman that he suffered from nervousness and despair, and that he had a latest abdomen operation and was taking medication for each. His subsequent listening to was set for November 17.
At round midday a gaggle of Interpol officers arrived on the Altiplano most safety jail in Mexico and offered an expedited extradition order. Guzmán was moved to a Normal Lawyer’s Workplace hangar in Mexico Metropolis and after a couple of hours he was flown to Chicago, the place he’s dealing with varied severe costs together with drug trafficking, cash laundering and arms trafficking, in response to his 40-page courtroom indictment.
“Guzmán’s extraction was stored secret, even from the director of the Mexican jail, and was set to occur on September 15 in the course of the Mexican independence celebrations to keep away from any retaliation from his folks,” an Homeland Safety Investigations (HSI) agent informed VICE Information on the request to maintain his id hid.
A first photo posted on X, the site formerly known as Twitter, by former DEA agent Derek Maltz confirmed Guzmán sitting on a aircraft nonetheless carrying the khaki uniform used on the Altiplano jail. He’s carrying eyeglasses and is handcuffed on the wrists and waist.
Ovidio is certainly one of 4 of El Chapo’s sons, referred to as “Los Chapitos,” believed by the DEA to have taken over the reins of a faction of the Sinaloa Cartel since their father was extradited, tried, and sentenced to life in jail within the U.S. in 2019 after one of many highest-profile media trials of a era. In the latest indictment towards Los Chapitos, U.S prosecutors accuse the lads of utilizing people to check the efficiency of their usually lethal illicit fentanyl, and of feeding their victims to tigers.
Los Chapitos additionally embrace Ovidio’s brothers Iván Archivaldo, Jesús Alfredo, and Joaquín, who stay at giant in Mexico. Generally known as ‘El Ratón’ [the mouse], Ovidio, 33, is the youngest of El Chapo’s sons nonetheless allegedly within the drug enterprise, and the U.S. was providing $5 million for his seize.
He was lastly arrested in January at his state-of-the-art ranch, the place he had gathered his three daughters, his spouse and his mom for a vacation celebration. It was the second try to detain him – the primary in late 2019 was a public embarrassment for the Mexican authorities, which was pressured to again down after being outgunned and outnumbered by cartel henchmen.
The three of “Los Chapitos” who stay at giant at present share management of the Sinaloa Cartel with different factions, one headed by Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, one of many authentic founders of the group, and one other by Aureliano Guzmán, also referred to as “El Guano” El Chapo’s brother.
The principle witnesses towards Ovidio and his brothers are Margarito and Pedro Flores, a pair of Chicago-based twins who used to work for El Chapo and testified towards him throughout his trial in 2019, in response to his extradition request. One other key witness is El Chapo’s godson, Dámaso López Serrano, referred to as “El Mini Lic.”, a former right-hand man.
A supply contained in the Sinaloa Cartel in Culiacán informed VICE Information that Ovidio’s brothers Alfredo and Iván, together with their safety groups, attended two completely different events celebrating Mexico’s independence day as their youngest brother was being extradited.
Previous to Ovidio’s removing, Iván and Alfredo—Ovidio’s two step brothers from ‘El Chapo’s’ first spouse— apparently had a convention name to debate “violent actions” to cease his extradition, however had been apprehensive that it will seize “an excessive amount of undesirable consideration,” in response to the HSI supply.
“What they ordered is to cease recording and cease enjoying new corridos about them, or going to events, and to maintain a low profile as a result of they suppose Ovidio will speak to the U.S. authorities about them,” the agent stated.
The U.S. Division of Justice stated Guzmán’s extradition was a joint operation between Mexican and U.S. governments.
“At this time, because of United States and Mexico regulation enforcement cooperation, Ovidio Guzman Lopez, a pacesetter of the Sinaloa Cartel was extradited to the USA. This motion is the latest step within the Justice Division’s effort to assault each side of the cartel’s operations,” Lawyer Normal Merrick B. Garland stated in a press release revealed on Friday.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador stated throughout his Monday morning press convention that Guzmán’s authorized workforce agreed to his extradition “to keep away from his consumer getting used as a political pawn.”
